Gun cleaning and protecting device

ABSTRACT

The device in itself is an elongated cord, sleeve or hollow rope of absorbent fibers woven or otherwise joined together to form a generally cylindrical shaped member in a length about as long as the gun barrel to be cleaned and oiled. One end of the member protrudes from the bore into the chamber and the other end protrudes from the muzzle end of the barrel. In cross section the member is slightly larger than the bore of the barrel so that it will be somewhat compressed as it is pulled through the barrel. It may be as solid as a rope or cord, or may be somewhat hollow, as in a sleeve knitted with string. One end of this cord or sleeve member is secured to a connecting member such as a string or small diameter cable which is at least as long as the barrel, and, where necessary, a small diameter weight is attached to the free end of the connecting member. For cleaning purposes, the weight is dropped through the barrel or the connecting member is pushed through from one end to the other, preferably from chamber to muzzle, and is then used to pull the cleaning device through the barrel. When the user of the device is satisfied that his barrel is clean, he uses the identical device or a duplicate for continuous lubrication by running it into the barrel and leaving it there with a portion protruding from at least the chamber end. Oil may be added as needed, and the portion of the sleeve in the chamber serves as a safety device in the event any attempt is made to fire the weapon without withdrawing the sleeve.

United States Patent [191 Schultea [541 GUN CLEANING AND PROTECTING DEVICE [76] Inventor: Wesley J. Schultea, 67 Burress St.,

Houston, Tex. 77022 [22] Filed: Feb. 22, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 117,298

[52] US. Cl. ..l5/l04.l6 [51] Int. Cl. ..B08b 9/02 [58] Field of Search..... ..15/l04.05, 104.16, 210, 211

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,164,665 12/1915 Reeves ..l5/l04.16 1,172,746 2/1916 Silverstein ..l5/l04.l6

Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts Attorney-Roy H. Smith, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT The device in itself is an elongated cord, sleeve or hollow rope of absorbent fibers woven or otherwise joined together to form a generally cylindrical shaped member in a length about as long as the gun barrel to be cleaned and oiled. One end of the member protrudes from the bore into the chamber and the other end protrudes from the muzzle end of the barrel. In cross section the member is slightly larger than the bore of the barrel so that it will be somewhat compressed as it is pulled through the barrel. It may be as solid as a rope or cord, or may be somewhat hollow, as in a sleeve knitted with string.

One end of this cord or sleeve member is secured to a connecting member such as a string or small diameter cable which is at least as long as the barrel, and, where necessary, a small diameter weight is attached to the free end of the connecting member.

For cleaning purposes, the weight is dropped through the barrel or the connecting member is pushed through from one end to the other, preferably from chamber to muzzle, and is then used to pull the cleaning device through the barrel. When the user of the device is satisfied that his barrel is clean, he uses the identical device or a duplicate for continuous lubrication by running it into the barrel and leaving it there with a portion protruding from at least the chamber end. Oil may be added as needed, and the portion of the sleeve in the chamber serves as a safety device in the event any attempt is made to fire the weapon without withdrawing the sleeve.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures GUN CLEANING AND PROTECTING DEVICE The present invention lies in the field of devices for cleaning and oiling gun barrels and the bores of other tubular devices, and methods of accomplishing such cleaning and oiling. It may also be said to concern the more or less permanent or continuous protection of such barrels and tubular objects from rust and other forms of corrosion.

The cleaning and oiling of individual rifle barrels has always been the concern of the individual owner or user of the rifle, and it is likely to remain so. It is a manual operation, performed without the need for expensive or cumbersome equipment, and if performed at the proper intervals, the steps taken to keep the gun clean and oiled will furnish adequate protection. In basic form, all that is required is a piece of string, some clean patches of absorbent cloth, and some oil. A patch can be tied to one end of the string, the free end worked through the barrel to the opposite end, and used to pull the patch through the bore. It is a helpful refinement to have two bits of metal for the opposed ends of the string, one to lead the string through and the other furnished with a slot for inserting the patch, although even these are not essential.

However, the patch method has some disadvantages, one of which is the need for having several patches available for any operation and using several of them to both clean the gun to the satisfaction of the user and thereafter oiling it. There is also a risk inherent in the technique of intermittent oiling, particularly if several months elapse between uses, e.g., between hunting seasons in the case of the user who uses his rifle only once a year. During this long period his rifle may dry out of oil, either the complete bore or parts of it if it is left in a fixed position. To avoid this possibility, the conscientious rifle owner must keep in mind one more chore that he has to take care of periodically.

The prior art made some attempt to alleviate one of the above enumerated disadvantages, specifically by providing an elongated fibrous member equal to the length of a rifle bore and designed to be left within it during periods of disuse. Such member was absorbent of lubricating fluids, and served as a wick to distribute lubricating oils throughout the length of the bore. However, it was not used for cleaning purposes, and was not made long enough to protrude from either end of the bore; in fact, the originator used the end of his elongated member as a plug to prevent the escape of lubricants by providing it with a cork enclosed within a braided cover common to the rest of the length of the lubricating member, and sealed the cork in with paraffin to insure a good seal to the end of the bore. See the US. Pat. to Reeves, No. 1,164,665.

The present invention aims at overcoming these disadvantages by providing a barrel cleaning and oiling device which can be left in the bore of the weapon throughout the long period when it is not in use. Usually it need be used only once after the weapon has been fired, both for cleaning and oiling. It is an object of the invention to furnish a device essentially equal to the length of the rifle barrel, and to make the device left in the bore of materials which are both absorbent to the combustion products released when the rifle cartridge is fired and to the oil used in cleaning it and protecting it from corrosion. A further object is to furnish such a device which may be left in the barrel to serve as a wick or network of capillary fibers which serve to distribute lubricant throughout the length and surface of the bore during prolonged periods of disuse. A subsidiary object is to furnish such a device which may be left with at least an end protruding into the chamber of the rifle to serve as a safety in the event an attempt is made to chamber a cartridge without withdrawing the device.

Briefly, the invention provides an elongated cord or sheath of absorbent material having sufficient tensile strength so that it may be pulled through a gun barrel. This member is cut or made to a length approximately equal to the length of the barrel (includes bore and chamber), and has a cross-section such that it may be drawn through the barrel with a slight amount of compression to insure that it will wipe all surfaces. It may be solid but compressible or slightly hollow, the important thing being that it be made of a fibrous material absorbent to combustion products, dust, dirt and the other foreign matter likely to find its way into a rifle barrel, and also to the lubricants used in cleaning and protecting it. At least one of the ends of this cord or sleeve member is terminated so that it may be secured to a string or narrow diameter cable that can be used to pull the device through the bore, and the other end may be terminated in any desired fashion, desirably in a fashion to prevent unraveling. The length of the device is somewhat greater than that of the bore, so that one end may be left protruding into the chamber of the rifle to serve as a safety device. Should any person attempt to load a cartridge into the chamber without pulling the device out of the barrel, the cartridge will jam into the protruding end of the device, and thus the cartridge cannot be seated in the chamber and cannot be fired. As an additional safety device, the string or cable used in pulling the device through the barrel may be pulled back on the outside and secured to the bolt handle or trigger guard.

The invention will perhaps be better understood by referring to the attached drawing. In this drawing:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of one preferred embodiment of the invention, complete with a drawstring and weight.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the cleaning and oiling device of FIG. 1, as indicated by the arrows marked 22" of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross section similar to FIG. 2, showing a solid fiber device rather than a hollow one as in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross section ofa rifle barrel show ing the preferred form of invention of FIG. I inserted in the barrel as for a period of storage.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross section taken from FIG. 4, with the addition of other parts of the rifle showing the effect of attempting to chamber a cartridge when the cleaning and oiling device of the invention has not been removed.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the cleaning device proper I0 is a sock or sleeve knitted from thick cotton string. The part 10 is of a length about two inches longer than the rifle barrel in which it is used. One end 12 is closed in such manner as to prevent unraveling, while the opposite or right hand end 14 is terminated in such a way as to join it to the pull string 18. While end 14 may be terminated in a knot or provided with an eyelet and joined by either one of them directly to string 18, the preferred embodiment shown adds a refinement in the form of a tougher sleeve portion 16 made of high-test fishing line. This is believed to give greater strength to this portion of the device, which is subject to considerable tension. Since fish line is purposely made non-absorbent, this portion of the device is preferably made surplus in length, i.e., it is added to the length designedly matching that of the barrel and the surplus extending from one or preferably both ends when the device is to be left in the barrel for a prolonged period. In other words, the tough portion 16 of the sleeve may be considered a part of the auxiliary or pulling device which is added to the cleaning and oiling and device proper.

String 18 has a length which must, of course, be at least that of the rifle barrel, and for convenience a few inches greater than such length. It is conveniently equipped at its free end with one or more small weights 20, each such weight having a cross section considerably smaller than the bore of the rifle and made in such shape and of such material as not to be likely to scratch the bore.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the body of the device, showing the thick wall of the sheath formed by the intertwined strings from which it is made. The wall 22 is closed on itself to define an irregular hollow space 24.

FIG. 3 is another cross section, similar to FIG. 2 but showing a cleaning and oiling device 10' having no cavity. This is made, for instance, of cotton or other absorbent fibers compressed to form a cord or rope. Such a member 10 would be entirely suitable as a substitute for the hollow sleeve member of FIGS. 1 and 2, provided it were loosely made so that it would still be compressible as it is pulled from the chamber into the bore of the rifle barrel, and had sufficient interstices between fibers to permit the member to act as a wick for the lubricant or oil added to the bore.

FIG. 4 illustrates the use of an embodiment of the present invention in a rifle barrel. It is shown with the body 10 disposed in a rifle barrel B so that portions are protruding from the barrel into both chamber C and from muzzle M. For an ordinary cleaning operation immediately following a period of firing, string 18 would simply be pulled coextensively with the barrel to pull device 10 all the way through the barrel. As shown, the device may be left in place for storage or a period of disuse, as the portion protruding into chamber C would furnish the necessary protection against inadvertent firing of a plugged barrel. The free end of string 18 may be wrapped around the bolt handle or trigger guard G so that the weights 20 hang down from the rifle. Lubricant may be added to the device 10 before it is pulled into and permeate the absorbent material of body 10 of the device.

FIG. 5 illustrates the safety feature of the present invention, the picture being the same as in FIG. 10 except that an attempt has been made. to jam a cartridge S into chamber C by the use of bolt R. As shown, the forward end of shell S simply jams into the protruding end of body 10, wadding it up and jamming the mechanism so that the cartridge cannot be seated.

It will now be apparent that there has been disclosed a simple device for cleaning and oiling a rifle barrel or the bore of other tubular objects. The device is inexpensive to manufacture and use, yet has several advantages. Through a period of experimental use, the inventor has found that less than one pass of the long length of the soft body of his cleaning device proper completely cleans the bore of all foreign matter, even after considerable firing (partly attributable, no doubt, to the advent of smokeless powder in recent years). Only 1 inch or 2 of body 10 nearest the draw string becomes dirty in such cleaning, and it is quite safe to pull this much through and stop. Thereafter, all that need be done is to check to make sure that a portion has been left trailing behind and hanging into chamber C, and add the lubricant from either end. Thus the user of the device is enabled to complete his entire cleaning and oiling operations .on his rifle for an entire year in only a few seconds. He may then store his weapon away until the next hunting season without concern about getting it out and lubricating it periodically.

What is claimed is:

1. A gun cleaning and protecting device comprising a hollow, elongated and limber sleeve member composed of soft material absorbent to protective lubricants, and an elongated, tapered, non-metallic connector woven to one end of said sleeve member for connecting it to a pull string, said connector being composed of a soft material having a higher tensile strength than the material of the sleeve member, whereby a pull string attached to the free end of the connector may be utilized to pull said connector and attached sleeve through the bore ofa gun without the risk of damage to said bore by contact with metal under tension.

2. The gun cleaning and protecting device of claim 1 in which said sleeve member had a length at least equal to the barrel length of the guns with which it is to be used, whereby the device may be pulled into said barrel so that the sleeve member is disposed along the full length of the bore of the barrel and an appreciable portion of the chamber thereof to serve as both a lubricant distributing means and a means for preventing the seating ofa cartridge in firing position. 

1. A gun cleaning and protecting device comprising a hollow, elongated and limber sleeve member composed of soft material absorbent to protective lubricants, and an elongated, tapered, non-metallic connector woven to one end of said sleeve member for connecting it to a pull string, said connector being composed of a soft material having a higher tensile strength than the material of the sleeve member, whereby a pull string attached to the free end of the connector may be utilized to pull said connector and attached sleeve through the bore of a gun without the risk of damage to said bore by contact with metal under tension.
 2. The gun cleaning and protecting device of claim 1 in which said sleeve member had a length at least equal to the barrel length of the guns with which it is to be used, whereby the device may be pulled into said barrel so that the sleeve member is disposed along the full length of the bore of the barrel and an appreciable portion of the chamber thereof to serve as both a lubricant distributing means and a means for preventing the seating of a cartridge in firing position. 